A system and method for enabling a conversation to be shifted to different modalities. Optionally and preferably, the conversation between a customer and a customer representative is shifted from a voice phone call to a messaging-based system which may optionally be, for example, through SMS or short messaging system messages, self help tools or through other messaging systems, which may, for example, be operated through a mobile communication device such as a smartphone.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A system for enabling a conversation to be shifted to different modalities, comprising a customer telephone and a customer representative voice system, wherein said customer telephone is capable of communicating through messaging; wherein said customer representative voice system comprises a server and connectivity to a message transfer communication channel, wherein said customer telephone is also connected to said message transfer communication channel, said server comprising a memory and a processor configured to perform a defined set of operations in response to receiving a corresponding instruction selected from a predefined native instruction set of codes, said codes comprising: a first set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for receiving a prompt from said customer telephone, said prompt indicating selection of an option to shift a conversation between said customer telephone and said customer representative voice system from a voice phone call to a messaging based system; a second set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for initiating, in response to said prompt, said shift; a third set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for determining, in response to said initiation, whether said shift shall be made or not comprises considering the geographic location of customer telephone, time of making said shift, or a combination of both; a fourth set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for determining a response, wherein said response comprises: if it is determined that said shift shall be made, shifting said conversation from said voice phone call to said messaging based system, and if it is determined that said shift shall not be made, rerouting said conversation back to said voice call; and a fifth set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for inducing said response, such that when the response comprises said shifting, said customer telephone communicates with said customer representative voice system through a message sent from said server through said message transfer communication channel; a sixth set of machine codes selected from that native instruction set for determining when said prompt occurs during a customer flow; wherein each of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sets of machine code is stored in the memory.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein said message transfer communication channel comprises one or more of SMS (short messaging system) messages, Facebook (FB) messaging, other forms of chat, self help tools or a combination thereof.
3. The system of claim 2 , wherein said customer telephone comprises a smartphone.
4. The system of claim 3 , wherein said server comprises a chatdesk shift audio prompt for determining that the conversation is to be shifted to said messaging-based system.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein said chatdesk shift audio prompt causes a seventh set of machine codes selected from the native instruction to be executed by said server, to determine if a phone number associated with said customer telephone is associated with a Facebook account, and if so, to induce communication through said message transfer communication channel through FB messenger according to said Facebook account.
6. The system of claim 4 , wherein said chatdesk shift audio prompt causes a seventh set of machine codes selected from the native instruction to be executed by said server, to determine a phone number associated with said customer telephone and to induce communication through said message transfer communication channel through SMS message service.
7. The system of claim 4 , wherein said server comprises a lookup URL module and said chatdesk shift audio prompt sends a request through a lookup URL to said lookup URL module to determine a telephone number associated with said customer telephone, wherein said lookup URL module returns said telephone number to said chatdesk shift audio prompt.
8. The system of claim 7 wherein said telephone number is determined by said lookup URL module to be unable to receive communication through said message transfer communication channel, such that said chatdesk shift audio prompt causes said customer telephone to re-engage in said voice call.
9. The system of claim 7 , wherein said customer representative voice system comprises an IVR (interactive voice recognition) system and wherein the conversation is initiated as a voice call through said customer telephone.
10. The system of claim 9 , wherein said prompt from said customer telephone comprises a voice audio prompt or a keypad prompt entered through said customer telephone, to cause said chatdesk shift audio prompt to initiate said shift to a messaging system.
11. A method for enabling a conversation to be shifted to different modalities, comprising providing a system according to claim 1 ; initiating a voice call through said customer telephone; determining when a prompt by said customer telephone occurs during a customer flow; receiving said prompt by said customer telephone to shift to said messaging-based system; initiating, in response to said prompt, said shift determining, in response to said initiation, whether said shift shall be made or not determining a response, wherein said response comprises: if it is determined that said shift shall be made, shifting said conversation from said voice phone call to said messaging based system, and if it is determined that said shift shall not be made, rerouting said conversation back to said voice call; and inducing said response.
12. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining whether said shift shall be made or not comprises evaluating the capability of the customer telephone to communicate via said messaging based system.
13. The system of claim 1 , wherein different messages and different links can be sent to the customer telephone after determining whether said shift shall be made, where the different messages and different links are based on the geographic location of the customer telephone or on the time of the day of making the shift.
14. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining when said prompt occurs during a customer flow comprises considering at the beginning of a voice menu (IVR), when no agents are available for the voice phone call on said customer representative voice system, after hours instead of leaving a voicemail, when a certain number of callers are already in the queue of said customer representative voice system, when hold time has reached a certain level in said customer representative voice system, and during a specific day or time of the week.
15. The system of claim 1 , the system uses the customer's phone number in the FaceBook (FB) Messenger Custom Matching API to determine whether the customer has an active FB Messenger account before shifting.
16. A system for enabling a conversation to be shifted to different modalities, comprising a customer telephone, a customer computational device and a customer representative voice system, wherein said customer computational device is capable of communicating through messaging, wherein the conversation is initiated as a voice phone call between said customer telephone and said customer representative voice system; wherein said customer representative voice system comprises a server and connectivity to a message transfer communication channel, wherein said customer computational device is also connected to said message transfer communication channel, said server comprising a memory and a processor configured to perform a defined set of operations in response to receiving a corresponding instruction selected from a predefined native instruction set of codes, said codes comprising: a first set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for receiving a prompt from said customer telephone, said prompt indicating selection of an option to shift a conversation between said customer telephone and said customer representative voice system from a voice phone call to a messaging based system; a second set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for initiating, in response to said prompt, said shift; a third set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for determining, in response to said initiation, whether said shift shall be made or not comprises considering the geographic location of customer telephone, time of making said shift, or a combination of both; a fourth set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for determining a response, wherein said response comprises: if it is determined that said shift shall be made, shifting said conversation from said voice phone call to said messaging based system, and if it is determined that said shift shall not be made, rerouting said conversation back to said voice call; and a fifth set of machine codes selected from the native instruction set for inducing said response, such that when said response comprises said shifting, said customer computational device communicates with said customer representative voice system through a message sent from said server through said message transfer communication channel; a sixth set of machine codes selected from that native instruction set for determining when said prompt occurs during a customer flow; wherein each of the first, second, third, fourth, and fifth sets of machine code is stored in the memory.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
November 13, 2018
February 25, 2020
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